The Bishi Files
by Anriko
Summary: Inspired by Songwind's 'Bishounen and Bishoujo' fic. A girl gets sucked into the world of Bishies and begins to make a name for herself. Elsewhere, something is brewing... something unpleasant for Bishies and humans alike.
1. Hey, Wait A Minute! Where AM I?

The Bishi Files 

She huffed in exasperation as she stared up at the ceiling fan, boredom rapidly growing old. "I never thought I'd be GLAD to have to work next week!" she muttered under her breath. "Nobody's here, there's nothing I haven't read repeatedly, TV sucks, and not even perverted daydreams are interesting anymore!"

She growled in frustration and buried her face in one of her pillows, then momentarily perked up. "Email! Even if it's just spam, I bet I can find some prime MST material!" And she flounced over, lifting her clean laundry out of the chair and tossing it onto the bed as she hit the power switch on the computer. Her computer finished booting and she clicked to her email, then started scanning it. "Junk. Junk. No, I do not need a loan yesterday.  No, I am not interested in making something longer that I don't even have. Hey, what's this?" She blinked at the strange email without a subject and then checked the virus scanner. "Well, this thing says it's clean, soooo…" She went ahead and clicked on it.

Inside was a link. That was all. She blinked again and pushed her glasses up on her nose. "What's this?" she asked herself, cautiously eyeing her virus scanner before clicking the link. A window popped up and the site began to load up. A large image of a black and silver ball with 'Bishounen!' written below it popped up, and then under that an anime character she didn't recognize. There was some text by it and she read it aloud. "Bishounen are classically defined as pretty boys, but the definition has expanded to mean any of your favorite male anime characters! Bishoujo, or pretty girls, are also included in the list." She blinked and giggled as her mind went off on a perverted tangent, then continued reading. "With the Bish-balls, you can catch your favorite Bishies and take care of them! Whether you're a fighter or a breeder, or simply want some company, that's what Bishies are for!" Then there was a graphic of a girl younger then her glommed onto the arm of a rather resigned-looking young man. "Join other trainers from all over for gym battles, training schools, or simply sitting back and enjoying the view!"

"Oh!" she said as realization hit. "It's like Neopets! I see!" And then she scrolled down a bit more and found a link that said 'Make Me A Trainer'. "Well," she said, "why not?" and then she clicked it.

The screen went white and she blinked, and then reached forward to hit the control panel. Or she tried to, anyway. She blinked as she realized she couldn't move and that everything around her was gradually losing color and shape, going fuzzy and gray, and then finally black…

Something was poking her insistently. She batted out halfheartedly in that direction and the poking stopped. For a moment. Then it started again, more insistent. "Up," someone insisted. "C'mon, you."

She groaned and shifted as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Then she got a good look at her surroundings and gaped. Instead of her messy, tiny bedroom, she was on the beach. At night. And barefoot and in thin black pajamas, no less. Then she turned around to see who'd been poking her, and gaped at him. 'It's Reno!' she thought, amazed as she stared at the redhead Turk who stood before her, baton in one hand. "What are you doing here?" he asked her.

She blinked, motioning to the scenery. "Where the hell is 'here'?"

Reno put his hand on his hips, relaxing slightly. "Oh, a newbie. I see. Usually the oldsters have more sense than to wander around in their pajamas." He grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her up to her feet before she could fire a blistering remark back at him. "Come on, then. You need to get to town and get oriented."

"What?" she asked, staring at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I'll explain it on the way," he said, turning around and heading across the sand. After a moment, she picked her way through the seaweed and shells littering the beach to follow him. "It's like this," he said as she caught up to him. "You were specially chosen as one of many to come to this world. Here you can 'catch' Bishounen – like me, for example – and take them along with you wherever you happen to go." Reno made a nimble leap up to a grassy part of the beach and turned around, grabbing her arm and roughly pulling her up beside him. "That's the short and stupid version, at least. There's people in Noitanimreted City - or 'Noita' for short, because who the hell can remember how to pronounce Noitanimreted? – who can help you out. Not that I'm going in there with you, because I'm not letting some crazy fangirl catch me…"

She nodded, still wondering if this was just a lucid dream on crack. After a moment, her eyes wandered to Reno's rear end moving temptingly in front of her, and a wicked little impulse prompted her to reach forward and pinch him. He jumped and turned around to give her a glare as she burst into giggles. "Sorry," she gasped in between giggles. "Just making sure you're real…"

Reno rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Fangirls…" he muttered before turning around and heading forward again, as the giggling girl followed him. Eventually, they came to a street with the lights of a small town in the distance, and Reno pointed down the road. "That's Noita down that way. You want to head to the Orientation Center; it's right there inside the entrance, you can't miss it. They'll take care of things from there."

The girl smirked. "Heh. You'd better be careful, 'cause I'm gonna find you once I get this whole thing figured out."

"Better women than you have tried and failed," Reno snorted. "I've got to get back to my post or Elena will have my hide. You know where to find me if you want to try. Oh, I almost forgot…" And he swung his hand and smacked her sharply on the butt, causing her to squeal shrilly in surprise. "Just making sure you're real," he said with a smirk before turning and loping off into the woods.

The girl rubbed the sore spot and shook her head. "Suppose I did deserve that," she said with a sigh, before turning and heading down the grass at the side of the road, occasionally looking up to study the sparkling night sky overhead. Finally she entered the gates and looked around, sighing in relief as she saw a neon sign that spelled out 'Orientation Center' above a door and headed inside.

The interior was all white, with several assorted mismatched chairs scattered about. The young woman behind the desk perked up as she saw the girl walk in. "Oh, wow, a newbie at this hour?" she asked. "Well, you're in luck, 'cause Fiarna is up right now and I'm sure he'll be happy to help you out. Who brought you here?"

"Reno," the girl said, taking off her glasses and wiping them clean on the hem of her shirt. "Um, why?"

The woman behind the counter chuckled. "Oh, just curiosity. Reno tends to bring in a lot of our newbies, actually, though he likes to complain about it. Oh! Fiarna! Newbie for you!" she called out to a young man who walked through a door, with long black hair in a braid nearly down to his thighs, and the girl in the black pajamas felt a sudden stab of jealousy as she saw said braid.

Fiarna came over, shifting the large white box in his arms onto the counter. "Ah, just in time, I see," he said, winking at the girl in the black pajamas. "Follow me, please, and I'll tell you what you need to know. Mio, I think I'll go ahead and give her the experimental stuff, so make sure you dig up the instructions." He picked up the box and went through a door, followed by the girl. "Take a seat anywhere you like, it's just the two of us right now. We really don't get too many trainers here, so we don't go by as much of the formality as a lot of the larger towns do." He set the box down on the desk as the girl eased herself into a squishy purple armchair at the front with a TV tray sitting by it as an impromptu desk. "Now, let me begin. You were on your computer, and received an email with a website, right? And you clicked the link, and it brought you here?"

She nodded as Fiarna continued. "Good. The reason it brought you here so abruptly is because you were one of those chosen to become a Bishounen trainer. I'm going to assume you know what Bishounen are, and move along. Bishounen and Bishoujo exist in the world like you and I do, with hidden cites of their own, and there are special pacts created to ensure that they cannot be driven into inhumane conditions, their cities cannot be found, and to keep them from going extinct. Still with me? Good. However, there is technology out to 'catch' them for battling, training, or simply for company. They don't mind too much, although it's preferable if the trainer is intelligent and open-minded. Not that being cute hurts any, mind you, and sometimes a Bishie and a trainer will get together…"

The girl blinked and grinned as her mind wandered down a perverted little tangent and she giggled, until Fiarna waved his hand in front of her face. "Helloooo…"

"Oh, sorry," she said, blushing deeply. "I got sidetracked…"

Fiarna nodded understandingly. "It happens. No big deal. Anyway, there's a couple rules you need to know, but first; you want to leave?" He grinned as she shook her head no vigorously. "Didn't think so. Now, rule one: Do NOT go in search of the Bishounen cities, do not ask about them, because your Bishounen won't tell you, even under torture – oh, and while I'm on the subject, DO NOT catch a Chibi." He saw her blank look and began to explain. "There are three stages of growth, or evolution, that Bishies go through. First is Chibi, second is San, and third is Sama. You can catch Bishies in San or Sama stages, but never Chibis UNLESS you re given consent by the parents. It's very much like someone kidnapping your own kid, and I really don't think you want the parents coming after ya to tar your hide for doing so. Anyway. Second rule: To catch Bishies, you use the Bish-balls." He dug in his pocket and fished out one of the black and silver balls, tossing it to the girl to inspect. "Almost exactly like Pokemon. You throw the ball at them to catch them, and if you want to release them, let them out of the ball, open it, and break it; this dissolves your bond and lets them go. But don't let them all go at once unless you want to return home that instant, got it?"

The girl nodded, absorbing all this as she held the Bish-ball in her hands. Fiarna kept speaking. "Last of the major ones, I promise. Never leave your Bishounen away from you more than three miles; they're bonded to you through your blood. If you must do this, reserve it only for emergencies and for very short periods of time; otherwise, after forty-eight hours, they will go mad and die if they cannot find you or you cannot find them. Clear? Three miles, forty-eight hours."

The girl nodded again, and Fiarna relaxed slightly. "Good. Now, I'm gonna give you this." He rummaged in the box for a moment, and then came out with a device much like a wristwatch, also black and silver, then tossed it to her. "You're lucky, actually, you get the first one of these released in this area. This is the Dex, which contains information about Bishounen and Bishoujo that are known.. Essentially, it's like a phone, encyclopedia, map, and radio all in one, updated by satellite signals, and virtually indestructible. They're gonna be all the rage in a few months." He grinned sheepishly. "Touch that red button to activate it, and it'll display a holographic screen which is self-explanatory. Those four buttons along the right edge are phone, encyclopedia, map, and radio in that order, and that little red panel at the top is the infrared transmitter and receiver. There's also a small accessory kit I'll give to you in just a moment."

"Coool…" the girl cooed as she slipped off her old watch and put on the Dex, marveling at how light it was on her arm

Fiarna smiled as he went to a panel in the wall and gave it a hard yank, exposing a very strange machine. He reached into a drawer behind it and pulled out an empty belt, and then gestured to the girl. "Come on over and let me get some of your blood so that this old thing can make you some Bish-balls. We give you twenty, but after that you'll have to buy more. Don't look at me like that; the blood helps bond you to your Bishies," he said, taking her arm and readying a needle. "Let's see… Oh, the belts hold about sixty balls at once, and after that you'll need to either get another belt or figure out some other way of holding all your balls." There was a sting and the girl yelped in surprise. "Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, make sure that your Bishies eat and drink and take regular baths, that sort of thing. If they get hurt, there's Hospital Centers everywhere for them to go to; you can't miss the signs." He placed the syringe in the top of the machine, the belt in the bottom, and pushed a yellow button the side, and the machine began whirring. "Speaking of which, Charlie never gets up unless it's past noon, so you'll probably have to spend the night at the Hospital Center, but they don't mind. Charlie runs the local shop; just take your Dex to him and he'll get you set up."

The machine stopped humming, and then spit out the belt, with Bish-balls attached to it. Fiarna handed ti to the girl, who took it and put it on, and then smiled. "It just feels so right…" she said , stifling a fangirly squeal.

Fiarna smiled, talking the Bish-ball she still held. "Good. Mio should have the documents I wanted her to give to you, so we'll go get those and then I'll walk you to the Hospital Center. This way, please." And they headed out to the reception area, where Mio handed the girl a small booklet. "Warranty and such for the new Dex," she said, eyeing it critically. "Fiarna, when the next shipment comes in, think you could save me one of those?"

Fiarna chuckled. "I'll hide it with the one I'm keeping for myself. Thanks, Mio."

"Anytime," Mio said as Fiarna and the girl headed out the door and down the street. The girl pressed the red button on the Dex and a holographic screen projected out of the 'face', with two options on it; Silent Setup and Voice Setup. The girl poked the Silent Setup option and the screen changed to read Name, and then a space with a flashing cursor, and the letters of the alphabet below that. She typed in her name and then pressed the green checkmark key at the bottom of the 'screen'.

"How do you say that?" Fiarna asked, peering curiously at the screen.

The girl chuckled. "Bethany."

"Nice to meet you, Bethany," Fiarna said to her as she continued to enter in information, like her age and date of birth. "Oh, I almost forgot; you've got two weeks to catch your first Bishounen or Bishoujo before you're automatically sent back. You can get money by battling other trainers, although Charlie will give you a bit to start you off. I think that's it." He chuckled sheepishly. "My father has a bad memory, and I think I inherited it."

"S'alright," Bethany said, confirming her settings and watching as the screen went to the main menu options. "Ooh, radio, I wonder what's playing…"

"Pretty much anything you like," Fiarna said. "A lot of the music from the Other World tends to carry over, so you shouldn't have trouble finding something to listen to…" He blinked as heavy rock began to blare and Bethany grinned mischievously. "AC/DC?"

"You really don't want to know," Bethany said with a grin.

Fiarna shook his head as they entered the Hospital Center. "You're right, I don't. Mia! I've got a newbie here, can you let her stay for the night?" he hollered into the back room.

A green-haired girl who looked almost exactly like Mio came out of the back, wiping her hands dry. "Sure, she can stay," she said, eying Bethany warmly. "Right this way, please… You came up on the beach, didn't you?" she asked, studying Bethany's sandy pajamas.

Bethany blushed. "Guilty. I don't suppose you've got a shower, do you?"

"This way," Mia said as she led Bethany into the back, past a couple of curtained beds, and to the end of the room. "You can sleep here, and the shower is just over there through that door. I'll see about finding you some clean clothes for tonight. We've got a couple of Bishounen over in those two beds, so please try not to disturb them if at all possible." Bethany nodded and ran the volume on the Dex down to a very faint level as she headed to the shower.

Roughly an hour later, the door swung open, drowning the room in steam, and Bethany emerged in a pair of white pajamas, as she casually strapped the Dex back on her left wrist and headed to the bed, sighing happily as she slipped in under the covers and set her glasses aside on the table. She closed her eyes and settled into the bed, soon falling asleep.

* * *

Note: This takes place about a year after the events of 'Bishounen and Bishoujo', which you can find in my favorite stories list. Yes, we have plenty of gutter humor and profanity in this. Hence the rating, which is subject to change.

 Anya is now quite famous for finding the cause behind the insane half-breed Bishies and sometimes her fame gets too much for her. I don't know how I'm gonna write her in as of yet, but we'll see. grin Anyway, lemme know what you think!

Oh, and it's pronounced 'Noy-tan-im-re-tread', before anyone asks. The short version is simply 'Noy-ta'


	2. Oooh, Bishounen!

The Bishi Files

Bethany woke up the next morning to the sun shining in her face, and she yawned profusely before swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing up. Someone had thoughtfully left her a tropical-patterned shirt, dark jeans, and a pair of sandals on the chair by the bed, and she took them with her into the bathroom while she took another shower, as she swore she could still feel grains of sand stuck in unmentionable places. Once she was clean and dressed, she came out of the shower and nearly ran face-first into a rather muscular bare chest.

"Well, hello…" the man purred, glancing over her briefly. "I'd heard there was a new trainer in this little town, although I didn't expect to meet you so soon." He wore no more than a pair of black leather pants that were partially unbuttoned, and his long white hair refused to lay flat and instead went all over the place. "So, tell me, wasn't it Reno who brought you in? I figured you weren't into scrawny guys like him…"

Bethany's face flamed almost as red as her hair. "Uh, well…"

"That had better be you getting into the bed I'm hearing, Dark Schneider!" Mia bellowed from the other end of the room as she strode over. "How many times do I have to tell you that it's not necessary for you to greet all the new trainers personally? You'll never get better if you don't rest!" And she grabbed Dark Schneider's ear and yanked, provoking a torrent of colorful curses from him as she dragged him back to a bed and shoved him into it, before heading back over to Bethany. "Sorry about that. He's a tad bit of a flirt."

"You know it," Dark Schneider purred lewdly from the bed as he watched them talking.

Mia shook her head and sighed. Bethany blinked. "Oh, did you want these back?" she asked, gesturing to her clothes.

"No, that's okay," Mia said with a smile. "Keep them; Dark Schneider can't wear them anyway…"

"Oh, please, don't stay dressed on my account," Dark Schneider drawled lazily, a mischievous light in his purple eyes

Bethany blinked. "Hey, you know who you look like? Inuyasha without the ears!" she chirped. Mia began to laugh as Dark Schneider looked rather put out.

"I do believe she has a point," drawled the occupant of the other bed as the curtains rustled and Ryo Sanada poked his head out briefly to grin at the two girls. "We'll just start calling you Inuyasha, then." He ducked back behind the curtain as Dark Schneider threw his pillow at him, and Mia sighed heavily.

"Anyway, I'm on my way out," Bethany interjected, heading over to her bed and picking up her black pajamas, which had gotten washed sometime during the night. "Thanks for letting me stay, I appreciate it." As she reached the door, she turned and grinned at Dark Schneider. "Bye, Inuyasha-honey," she cooed before ducking the pillow that came flying at her and giggling like mad as she left.

* * *

The repeated tac-tac-tac of a keyboard echoed in the small room as his fingers flew over the keys, committing to the computer screen what the stone-skinned Bishounen by the door was dictating as he went through the mind of the other Bishounen before him. Finally, the first Bishounen stopped and removed his hand from the head of the other Bishounen, sighing heavily and leaning against the wall. "That's all that's there," he said quietly. "LSS and Tokio are thorough, I must admit, but even they are not able to penetrate the realms of the subconscious…"

"Thank you, Zelgadis," said the young boy at the computer, as he entered a rapid keystroke command and the screen switched to a harmless-looking solitaire game. "That should be sufficient for the moment. See Hiei to his quarters."

The Hiei stood, unsteadily, and fixed the young boy with a glare. "Remember your promise," he rasped. "That's the only reason I agreed to this… invasion of my mind…"

"I haven't forgotten," said the young boy as he absently pushed a strand of tan-colored hair from his face. "I need to finish this formula, but rest assured that once I do, your trainer will be able to return without fear for her life." A dark chuckle escaped from his throat. "I'll even make her a present of LSS and Tokio to make amends. Do you think she'd like that?"

A faint shadow of his usual smirk crossed Hiei's face. "I believe she would…" he said softly, permitting Zelgadis to take his arm. "Very well, then, I shall leave it to you. I cannot do much else anyway, seeing as I'm as good as dead if I set foot outside," he spat.

The young boy nodded, returning his attention to the computer screen, and rearranged a few cards on the screen as Zelgadis led Hiei out of the room. Behind the solitaire screen, the computer hummed busily as it compiled the bits of data into a much more meaningful form. With practiced ease, he continued to rearrange the cards on the screen, until he got to the last few. An irritated growl rose in his throat as he realized that he was missing the Queen of Diamonds, and that it was probably buried in the last pile that he was unable to get to. "Dammit," he muttered irritatedly under his breath, before 'reshuffling' the deck and then switching screens for a moment to watch the data compile, the light from the monitor reflecting in his near-black eyes.

He switched back to the solitaire game and went through it again, his irritation increasing when the Queen of Diamonds once again prevented him from winning the game. A clock beeped beside him, and he looked up at it, before checking his schedule, and then his fingers flew across the keyboard briefly, bringing up a password-lock screen to secure the data before he left the room, leaving the computer to compile silently.

* * *

Bethany came out of Charlie's store, a new backpack in one hand and a small plastic case in the other – the accessory kit Fiarna had promised her. Charlie had given it to her as soon as she walked in, made a comment on Fiarna's bad memory, and then helped her pick out what she'd need for the trip. She'd been particularly amazed at the Capsules for sale, and had managed to make herself look rather silly by playing with the display ones until Charlie had taken it from her, shaking his head and muttering something about the easily amused. She'd immediately picked out some new clothes for herself; dark blue flare-leg jeans, a white shirt, a black jacket, and shiny black knee-high boots, before filling the backpack with as many Capsules as she thought necessary, and then bade Charlie farewell.

She opened the accessory kit and found interchangeable faceplates and wristbands, a set of lightweight and collapsible headphones, and a small tool set, with instructions for use. "Cooooool," she breathed as she slipped on the black and orange backpack and headed out the town entrance after putting away the accessory kit. Then she reached to the Dex and dialed up the sound to a level where she could hear it.

"_…Don't you draw the Queen of Diamonds, boy, she'll beat you if she's able…. The Queen of Hearts is always your best bet…"_ came over the speaker as she started down the road, singing tunelessly with the radio as she walked, heading towards what she thought was the right way towards the beach.

Bethany had gotten to the third verse when she saw something moving in the bushes, and she turned the radio off hastily before heading off the road and into the thick trees, carefully climbing up into one with several low branches, before moving up higher to a slightly wobbly branch, She perched on it, trying to see what had been rustling the bushes, when he came out, and she felt her jaw sag as she realized who it was.

_Sephiroth! _ her mind screamed stupidly at her, and she leaned forward to get a better look, even as he came in her general direction. She could see Masamune strapped to his back, which was a good sign, and she stifled a squeal as he walked to a spot nearly below her and stopped to look around. She was so engrossed in her little bout of 'zoology' that she didn't notice the branch splitting – until a sharp crack brought her out of her daze just long enough to watch the branch give way under her, and she screamed as she plummeted.

Only the mere fact that Sephiroth was who he was kept her from landing hard enough to break something, as his arms automatically shout out and caught  her and a handful of tree branches, as several of her Bish-balls went flying to the forest floor from the impact. A stunned silence fell as Bethany went bright red and Sephiroth simply looked stunned at the fact he was holding a teenage girl in his arms.

Down below, one of the Bish-balls rolled to a stop against Sephiroth's feet, and then fell open. Sephiroth had just enough time to blink before it sucked him in and closed up, and Bethany took a fall the rest of the way to the ground, several curses flying to her lips as she hit with a heavy thud. Then she glanced at her belt and realized that she was missing several Bish-balls, and then glanced over at the lone Bish-ball in the middle of the dirt floor, before reaching over and picking it up. " I caught him!" she squealed aloud. "I caught Sephiroth!"

The Dex beeped at her, and a masculine purr came from the speaker. "Caught: Sephiroth, Sama-stage, first Bishounen. Would you like to give him a nickname?"

Bethany thought about it for a moment. "No nickname," she said, and the Dex beeped twice at her in response. She giggled to herself as she searched the forest floor for the missing Bish-balls, finally uncovering the last one under a pile of leaves before she sat back  and studied the one she still held, finally pressing the button on the front to let Sephiroth out, and another wave of giggles threatened to overcome her as she saw that he had a few twigs in his hair. She reached forward and picked out the twigs, blanching slightly as his gaze met hers. "Ne, are you all right?" she asked softly, finally removing the last leaf. " I didn't mean to fall on you like that; I just wanted to see who was out there…"

Sephiroth simply studied her for a few moments, and her face grew redder and redder as he did. Finally, he rose to his feet, and without a word, took her hand and pulled her to her feet. Bethany blinked, idly dialing up the volume on the radio as she tried to figure out what was happening. Finally, she sighed heavily and turned to head towards the beach. _I'll figure it out later, _ she thought. _Right now, I'm gonna get Reno if it's the last thing I do._

It wasn't long until she reached the beach, and she grinned mischievously as she spotted Reno sitting on a log, puffing heavily on a cigarette, and she grinned mischievously as she took one of the Bish-balls from her belt, and knelt down, flicking her wrist and rolling the ball down the hill and into the sand, sighing softly as it stopped just short of where she wanted it. _Oh, well, that'll do._ And then she came out of the bushes, grinning mischievously at Reno as his head snapped about. "Told you I was coming for ya," she chirped at him.

Reno rolled his eyes. "Not doing too well, are you?" he asked snidely. "Or is subtlety above you?"

Bethany winced. "What crawled up your rear end and died this morning?" she fired back, folding her arms across her chest. "I haven't done anything to deserve tha-aiiiiiie! Don't sneak up on me like that!" she yelped at Sephiroth, who'd silently followed her the whole way and now stood behind her.

Reno laughed at that as he got up and headed down to the sand, unheeding of the black and silver ball that lay in his path. "Serves you right, fangirl!" he hollered, not watching where he stepped, and slipped in a puddle, landing heavily on his chest in the sand, and the impact caused the Bish-ball to bounce and land on his arm before rolling off, onto the ground, and falling open. Reno cursed loudly as the ball sucked him in, and then closed up. It rolled about for a moment, then fell still, and a giggle escaped Bethany as she leapt down and scooped it up.

The Dex beeped again. "Caught: Reno, San-stage, second Bishounen. Nickname?"

"No nickname," Bethany said, grinning madly, and pressing the button on the front of the Bish-ball as the Dex beeped twice at her again.

Reno came out, looking soundly displeased, and began to brush sand off the front of his clothes. "You brat," he muttered under his breath.

"You're just mad that you got tripped up by a puddle," Bethany snorted at him as she fiddled with the radio stations, and loud thumping bass came from the speakers. "Map," she said aloud and a holographic map projected into midair for her to read. "Okay, so this is Noita, and this is the road… Okay, kiddoes, we're going to Ecneitap City!" she announced with a gleeful gleam in her eyes. "Let's go!"

"Yeah, yeah," Reno muttered sourly under his breath, still not terribly pleased about being outwitted. Nevertheless, the two Bishounen fell into line behind their trainer as she headed down the road, her radio blaring loudly.

* * *

'Suppose I should introduce the Bishies, shouldn't I? =3

Dark Schneider is from the anime 'Bastard!' and he's the hero, if you can call him that. He's a womanizer, a lecher, and a party animal, and he winds up naked a lot. =3 He has messy white hair, purple eyes, and he does kind of look like what Inuyasha might look like in ten years or so. Very handsome.

Ryo Sanada is from Ronin Warriors, and wears the Armor of Wildfire, as well as the white Inferno Armor later on. He has black hair, blue eyes, and is usually followed about by a BIG white tiger named Whiteblaze.

Sephiroth is from Final Fantasy Seven, the silver-haired villain who wants to become a god, kills Aeris, and burned down Nibelheim. =D Not much of a talker at this point, but who knows what'll happen?

And now for some Q&A!

Thistle Leaf: Simple. It's 'determination' backwards. =)

Vamp Gurl: Thanks so much! =D

Songwind: =)  Oh, yes, there's plenty of FF bishies in here, as you'll see. The first one caught is actually my personal fave. =3 I've got a few nasty surprises in store for Bethany, and perhaps one for Anya when she shows up. D Oh, and Fiarna might be rather upset if you start calling him insane. He's got his father's temperament as well as his bad memory. XD


	3. Overfriendly Bishounen and Bad Tempers

The Bishi Files

Bethany looked up at the sky, which was tinting a dark red at the west and went through the spectrum to purple in the east, and abruptly headed off towards a clearing in the woods that she saw, both Bishies trailing behind her. Sephiroth kept up with her fairly well, while Reno trailed behind, still grumbling to himself now and then. Once they'd gotten to the clearing, Bethany set her backpack down and began rustling in it for a case of Capsules. "Would one of you two start the fire?" she asked as she searched.

A few moments later, she discovered the Capsule case she'd been trying to find, and turned around, watching Sephiroth quietly set up the fire. He hadn't said a word to her ever since she'd let him out of the Bish-ball, and she was starting to wonder if he was all right. With a sigh, she pushed the button on the Capsule she held and tossed it. A cloud of dust kicked up and died, revealing a storage chest, and she opened the lid to reveal about ten squishy-soft, dark blue sleeping bags inside. Behind her, she heard Reno still muttering to himself, and shook her head. He hadn't done anything but complain and it was starting to drive her crazy.

Three sleeping bags thumped on the ground and Bethany pressed a button on the side of the chest, and it shrunk back into its Capsule. She put it away and rolled a sleeping bag over to each Bishounen, before tossing another Capsule, and another cloud of dust faded away to reveal a sleek-looking black fridge. She opened the door, pulled out a soda, and chugged it before she headed to her sleeping bag and began to unroll it. "Wake me at about eight," she said with a yawn as she slipped into the sleeping bag, put her glasses aside, and rolled over, dozing lightly until she heard Reno complaining again.

"…and it's bad enough I was caught by a fangirl, but she tricked me on top of that!" he snorted, before taking a big gulp of something and speaking again. "I don't like fangirls, and I don't like sneaky fangirls on top of that!"

"Quiet," Sephiroth said firmly, surprising Bethany. "Listening to you complain is ruining my appetite."

There was a stunned silence, and then a snort from Reno, but he didn't say anything else. Bethany exhaled heavily as she closed her eyes again in an attempt to get some proper sleep, and this time she didn't wake up until the sun shone in her eyes, and she rolled over with a heavy sigh, blinking and then blushing as she saw Sephiroth doing pushups, his coat neatly laid across a few tree branches and Masamune in its sheath beside it. His eyes flickered over in her direction before he finished the pushup he'd been in the middle of, and then neatly got to his feet, before beginning a lengthy stretch. Bethany blushed even harder and buried her face in the sleeping bag to hide the crimson tint to her cheeks. A few feet away, Reno shuffled out of his own sleeping bag and blearily staggered off into the woods, returning a few minutes later and heavily sitting back down, rubbing his face with his hands.

Bethany finally raised her head out of her sleeping bag, and shuffled out of it as well, then rolling it into a tight coil. She'd just finished packing it when she saw something off in the bushes, and one hand dropped to her belt as she got up and carefully slunk off, trailing the bright red point in the distance. After a moment, she slipped behind a tree to watch for him; she was sure it was Id, and she wanted to see what kind of mood he was in before she decided if she was going to catch him or not. _Last thing I need is someone with that kind of power pissed off at me,_ she thought as he came into view. It was Id, all right, and he seemed to be rather satisfied with himself at the moment, which made her breathe a little easier. After a moment, she quietly palmed a Bish-ball and then peered out again to see if he was close enough for her to throw it.

Nothing but dead air and tree limbs was there, and she blinked in surprise, going so far as to lean out from behind her tree and peer around to see if he'd just walked farther on into the woods, a frown crossing her face as she saw nothing. _He can't have gone that far; I'd have heard him if he did… so where the hell is he? _ she thought, backing back into her hiding place, and then hitting something with her back. _…there wasn't anything behind me before… was there?_

She nearly screamed when a pair of hands landed on her shoulders and rested there. "Well…" purred a familiar voice from behind her, as his thumbs started to work the back of her neck and his grip tightened slightly. "What have we here? Looks like a newbie trainer… and all by her lonesome, too." His thumbs went in circles on the back of her neck as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You do know that it's highly dangerous to hunt for Bishounen and Bishoujo without a Bishie of your own around, just in case you get into any… trouble… don't you?" There was a hint of mischief in his voice, coupled with a sultry undertone that made her think many dirty thoughts, and Bethany was sure she could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks and pooling there.

_Great,_ she thought, _tons of Id Bishounen out there, and I had to come across the one with the raging libido…_  "What do you mean by that?" she inquired as innocently as she could, while trying not to notice his hands on her shoulders.

Id chuckled softly, his hands kneading her shoulders somewhat roughly. "Dense much, trainer mine? Yes," he purred in her ear as she blanched, "you are mine, at least for the moment, and I fully intend to make use of it…"

There was the soft sound of a throat clearing and both heads turned. Sephiroth leant casually against a tree, inspecting the edge of Masamune, before he looked up. "Will you, now?" he asked casually, even as Bethany began to turn red again. "I beg to differ, as she was mine first… unless you want to fight me for her?"

Bethany facefaulted, her face now nearly the same shade as Id's hair. Id chuckled quietly and straightened up, though his hands didn't move from her shoulders. "Interesting… I presume the winner will then claim the lady… very well, then." He took a step back, finally releasing his grip on Bethany's shoulders, only to cavalierly sweep her up in his arms, and set her out of the way on a fallen tree, either ignoring or simply pretending not to have heard her surprised squeal. Sephiroth sheathed Masamune and padded over to Bethany, placing it in her hands before moving back into the small clearing and assuming a very loose martial arts stance. Id crossed to a point directly in front of Sephiroth as a red-gold aura flared about him, while the two sized each other up.

Bethany finally found her voice again as she glanced back and forth between the two. "Uh… guys?"

Neither Bishounen acknowledged her. With no warning, Id lunged at Sephiroth with a powerful punch, which Sephiroth blocked with his hand before returning the favor. Bethany's eyes grew progressively wider as she watched the two go back and forth in an almost frightening display of martial arts. Id moved erratically and hit hard, while Sephiroth moved with calculated precision and struck accurately. Back and forth they went for several minutes, until Sephiroth took a chance and surprised Id with a sweep-kick, knocking him down, and then pinned one of his arms behind his back, effectively forcing him to remain on his knees. "Well?"

Id chuckled softly. "The lady is yours, then…"

"Do you two know how incredibly wrong you two look from back here?" Bethany muttered under her breath as she stood, and then giggled as she noticed the looks they gave her for that. "Don't look at me like that; I wasn't the one who decided to get into a stranglehold. Now hold him still." She lazily tossed the Bish-ball at Id and it bounced off his thigh before landing on the ground and sucking him into it. Sephiroth straightened up and stretched as the ball rocked hard enough to do a full turn before settling down, and then Bethany finally picked it up, a faint giggle escaping her lips.

The Dex beeped. "Caught: Id, Sama-stage, third Bishounen. Nickname?"

"No nickname," she told it, handing Sephiroth back the Masamune as the Dex beeped twice at her.

"He is correct about one thing…" Sephiroth said mildly, as he strapped Masamune to his back. "It is dangerous for you to be wandering around without someone to protect you from… libidinous… Bishounen and Bishoujo." His eyes met hers. "I trust you won't do that again?"

Bethany shook her head, blushing madly. "Nuh-uh."

Sephiroth watched her as she pressed the button on the Bish-ball and it spit Id out in a flash of red-gold light. Id folded his arms across his chest, a lazy smirk crossing his face. "Insufferable wench," he mock-growled.

"Thank you," Bethany chirped before turning and heading back to the camp, the two Bishies trailing her.

* * *

"This isn't right," he muttered as he stared out the window of the small room, where they'd been since their arrival. There wasn't much to see outside, just some hard-packed dirt and sparse bits of grass. Their 'trainer' wasn't far away; a mile and a half, he estimated, but it still made him uneasy not to be around him, and even more uneasy when they were around him. He'd sent a Zelgadis after them, and the last thing they'd heard was "Ra Tilt!" before everything went to Hell. Then they'd woken up in this room and had been there since.

He turned his head and looked over at the other Bishounen in the room, noting that he was probably worse off than he himself was, as he'd taken the brunt of the blow. He was half-heartedly twisting his long brown hair into its usual braid, but it was messy and unkempt, which wasn't like him at all. After a moment, he got up and went over to the other Bishounen, unraveling the braid and running his fingers through it. It wasn't a proper comb, but it would do for the moment.

"What are you… oh, thanks…" the other Bishounen said, sighing quietly.

"Don't get any ideas. I'm just tired of watching you struggle with such a simple task," the first Bishounen snorted, although there was no heat in his words.

"Whatever you say, Wufei," the second one murmured with a small laugh. Wufei snorted and began to braid his hair properly, finally finishing with the unruly mop and tying it off, before returning to his place against the window.

"This isn't right," he said again. "What kind of trainer goes out and captures Bishounen only to leave them in a room in the middle of nowhere? And why?"

"Who knows?" the other Bishounen muttered, resting his head on his arms. "But I got a feeling we'll find out soon enough…"

Wufei shivered involuntarily at the other's words. Somehow, he was sure that whatever was in store for them would not be pleasant.

* * *

Bethany shielded her eyes from the sun as they headed down the road. The combination of the bright sun in her eyes and Reno's constant grumbling was fraying her nerves and her patience to a mere sliver of their former selves. He'd done nothing but complain all day; about the food, about the forest around them, about the walk, about the music Bethany was listening to, and about 'damned fangirls', which especially set her teeth on edge. She looked at the time display on the Dex, and then headed off the road to stand under a tree, as she took out a Capsule and the fridge reappeared. She started handing around bottles of water, her eyes narrowing as Reno simply brushed her off without even so much as a simple 'no, thanks', and stuck her water bottle in her mouth to take a hefty swig of the contents before she exploded.

Reno continued to grumble to himself for several minutes before looking up. "What, you give them water but not me?" he asked snidely.

Bethany's eyes flashed, but she held out the bottle of water to him, and he grudgingly took it from her. Sephiroth cleared his throat. "Had you not been complaining, you would have noticed that she offered you one as soon as she opened the refrigerator," he commented. "You were the one who simply brushed it off."

Reno made a rude gesture as he finished the bottle of water. "Oh, cram it, Seph," he snorted. "We all know she's got you wrapped around her little finger. You don't need to stick up for her. Unless she's incapable of speaking up for herself, that is…"

Something snapped inside of Bethany and she whipped around, drawing herself up to her full height of five feet, nine inches, her eyes filling with a blazing fire as she stormed over to Reno. "That is IT!" she seethed, her arm whipping out and grabbing the shorter man's collar, hauling him in close to her with a burst of strength that surprised all three of them. "You have done nothing but complain and throw abuse at me this whole time, and I am damn well sick and tired of it! If you have a problem with me, tell me now or forever hold your peace. Well?" she growled dangerously at him.

Reno's mouth moved wordlessly for a few moments as she continued. "I know what your problem is. You're pissed because a fangirl caught you due to your own clumsiness and you can't admit it to yourself, so you have to twist it about and place the blame on me. Am I that offensive to you? Is that it? Do you want me to release you, is that what you're trying to tell me? Fine." Her hand went to her belt and pulled off the Bish-ball she'd used to catch him. "Just say the word, and you will be free to go back to your home," she rasped out at him, anger and frustration clouding her voice. "Well? Do you or do you not? Wait, don't answer that." And she checked the Dex to get the time. "Set alarm. Two days from three forty-five today," she told it, and it beeped in response, as she returned to glaring at Reno. "You have forty-eight hours to make up your mind what you want to do," she hissed at him under her breath. "Until then, I will not tolerate any more of your crap. Either you want to stay with me or you don't." And then she let him go, and he gasped for breath as she returned the fridge to the Capsule, shoved it into her backpack, and stormed on down the road. Id moved quickly to catch up with her, and after a moment, Sephiroth followed. Reno looked down at the water bottle in his hand, then at Bethany's back, before he reluctantly began to walk again, still stunned at the intensity of her temper.

* * *

Bishie Spotlight! =)

Reno is from Final Fantasy Seven. He's a cocky redheaded Turk with an electric police riot baton as a weapon and a singular love for getting drunk. He works for Shinra and has orders to capture the last Ancient.

Id is from Xenogears, and is one of the alternate personalities of the main character, Fei. Id wants nothing more than to destroy everything because of the pain he suffered in the past, and he has immense power. He pilots the Weltall, although it changes color when Id is in control of their body.

Q&A&Comments:

Migoto Yuki Kitsune: Thanks! =D

Thistle Leaf: I hope so! ; D


	4. Resolutions, Trouble, and Bishoujo!

The Bishi Files

It was nightfall when they finally reached Ecneitap City. Bethany studied her map for a moment until she found what she wanted, then headed towards the hotel. A throbbing tension headache had taken up residence in her skull after she'd blown up at Reno and it hadn't gone away since. _I bet Id will be more than happy to work it out for me, _she thought as she rubbed the bridge of her nose with one finger. _I probably won't even have to ask him. He seems to like that sort of thing…_

She went inside the hotel, and to the automated check-in, as she didn't think she could deal with another human being at the moment. The screen lit up as she pressed a button on the terminal, and displayed 'Check-In'. She selected that and the screen changed to a lengthy list of options like room type, location, special services, with a total at the bottom. After a moment, she selected a basic room, with no location preference, and after a moment, decided to add in room service since there was a special. After she confirmed the total, she stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out her wallet, fed some money into the machine, and took the room key that it spit out at her, before wearily heading towards the elevator, trailed by her three Bishounen.

The elevator stopped on the fourth floor and she went down the hallway, finally stopping at a room with the same number on it as the key. She unlocked the door and went in, heading straight for the desk chair and flopping into it rather ungracefully, resting her head on her arms on the back of the chair and closing her eyes. After a moment, she shrugged off the straps on her backpack and let it fall to the floor with a hefty thump before attempting to doze. As if on cue, the bed creaked behind her, and someone she presumed to be Id began to manipulate the muscles in her shoulders, and she sighed as the tension headache began to fade away. "If y'all want something to eat, pick up the phone and call for room service," she said with a yawn as she bent down long enough to reach into the backpack for a Capsule. "And keep it down. I'm going to bed." And she got up out of the chair and went into the bathroom, then popped the Capsule and took out a pair of dark blue pajamas, and changed into them before heading back out and flopping on the one bed rather ungracefully, and then wiggling under the covers, putting her glasses aside, and closing her eyes.

She wasn't sure what awoke her, but she could smell the liquor even from across the darkened room as she sat up. All three Bishounen had taken up places on the floor; Id close to her, Sephiroth before the door, and Reno by the bathroom, and she could see the bottle in Reno's hand as he slumped against the wall. After a moment, she groped for her glasses, and then slid them on before getting out of bed and carefully stepping over Id to get to Reno. "I think you've had enough," she said, reaching for the bottle.

"Like you care," Reno muttered blearily. "Why should you care?"

"If I didn't care, I wouldn't be over here, now would I?" she asked him as she pried the bottle from his grip and screwed the lid on tightly, before she set it out if his reach. "You're not going to throw up, are you?"

"Please," he snorted derisively. "I can hold my liquor better than that-oooh, someone tell the room to stop spinning…"

"Uh-huh," she snorted. "Come on. On your feet." And she stood, before reaching down and hauling him into an upright position. The look on his face was comical as she led him to the bed and pushed him down on it. "Stay put." And she went into the bathroom and returned with some aspirin and a glass of water. "Take these and drink this. I really don't want to nurse you through a hangover."

"Why the hell do you care?" he asked even as he swallowed the aspirin, and then chased it down with the glass of water.

Bethany rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop it. Nobody likes a whiner. I may not like listening to you complain, but that has very little effect on my feelings towards you yourself." She paused, and gave him an enquiring look. "So what's the deal? The first time I saw you, you practically challenged me to come after you, and the second time you practically tear off my head…"

Reno held up one hand. "I'd rather not discuss that now," he said wearily. "Later, perhaps… if you're still willing to put up with me…"

"Timer," Bethany said to the Dex, and it projected holographic numbers in the air. "You still have about thirty hours, you know… have you made up your mind already?"

Reno paused. "That wasn't a very good start," he muttered to himself. "I will admit that… so d'you think we can try this again in the morning?"

"I don't see why not," Bethany said, stifling a yawn. "You need to get to bed before you fall on the floor. Sleep. Now." And then she shuffled over to the discarded sleeping bag and unzipped it, before sliding in. Reno stretched out on the bed as Bethany began to nod off again.

This time the sun in her eyes awoke her and she yanked the sleeping bag up over her head to block out the bright light. A moment later, someone ran his hand through her messy red hair and she growled in irritation. "Time to get up, trainer mine," Id's sultry tenor purred to her.

Bethany shoved the sleeping bag down and tugged her hair out of his grasp. "Don't mess with my hair," she snorted before yanking the sleeping bag back up over her head with one hand and tugging her hair inside with the other. "Too early. Go 'way."

"Did you not want to be woken at eight?" Sephiroth enquired quietly from somewhere near her feet.

"That was yesterday," Bethany grunted. "I didn't get much sleep last night. Leave me 'lone. Order pay-per-view or something until I feel human again." And she rolled over so that she was facing the wall and away from the sunlight. "We ain't leaving until I make sure that Reno ain't gonna hork up on my shoes down the road anyway."

"Har, har," Reno said dryly from behind her. "If you're going to play lazy bed slug, you may as well do it in the bed, then. I'm done with it."

"But that involves getting up," Bethany whined. "And I don't wanna…"

"Nobody said you had to," Id purred again. The next thing Bethany knew, he'd slipped his arms under her and literally tossed her into the bed, its springs creaking dangerously as she landed on it with a soft thump. She shoved the sleeping bag off herself just long enough to give him a 'so NOT totally amused' glare before burrowing back into it and then yawning profusely. Id pretended not to notice the looks he was receiving and went into the bathroom, and a moment or so later the shower started.

Bethany fought valiantly against the image of Id in the shower, but it overwhelmed her and she sat up with a disgruntled murmur and a bit of a blush. "Fine, I'm up," she muttered, giving the bathroom door a glare. "Someone order breakfast. If I have to be up at this obscene hour I can at least make sure I get some food for my pains."

"Thought you'd never ask," Reno muttered to himself as he picked up the phone.

* * *

He idly pushed a stray strand of his tan hair out of his face as he went down the hall, to his room, and the computer terminal. A simple keystroke made the screens switch around and he nodded with a self-satisfied smirk once he saw that the data had finished compiling, and a rough outline of the five most likely variants of the formula for his purposes were displayed on the screen. A thought then occurred to him, and he turned to Zelgadis. "During your examination of Hiei's memories, did you come across anyone else who may have known any pieces of the formula?"

Zelgadis thought for a moment. "Two. One female and one male." He paused. "The female actually meddled with the formula to thwart the trainer Kara, so she may be the better bet out of the two. However, the male was rather closely involved in the project and may know some of the pertinent details…"

The young boy nodded, his eyes darting over the formulas. "Bring him here first, then. He may also know where the other one is, and I have a feeling she'll be harder to track down. Bring him here once you have him."

Zelgadis nodded and vanished. The young man's hand strayed down to his belt, where four black and silver Bish-balls hung, though only one was occupied at the moment. It was that one he wanted, and he removed it from his belt and idly pushed the button on the front, releasing the Bishounen inside in a puff of purple smoke. Xelloss dropped into something of a mocking bow before him. "How may I be of use today, Clint?" he inquired with only a hint of malice in his tone. "Shall I catch a stray cat for you? Make you breakfast? Start your harem?"

Clint arched an eyebrow. "Sarcasm will do you no good, Xelloss. To be honest, we're going on a trip. An interdimensional trip."

"Really." Xelloss's interest was piqued now; for all that he loathed Clint, he did hold an interest in whatever scheme he happened to be cooking up, even if only to make sure it backfired on him. "And why would we be doing that?"

"To see a woman about a plan." Clint's eyes lit up with a sort of cruel glee in them, and Xelloss momentarily felt a chill go down his spine. "I suggest you prepare yourself. There will be a lot of security to bypass, you know." And then he casually switched the screens again to the solitaire game, and then entered a rapid combination of keystrokes, which brought up a password-locked screen. "But first we need to get Hiei. Are you capable of that?"

Xelloss's teeth ground together for the barest of moments at Clint's tone. "Of course!" he exclaimed in mock-glee, suppressing his rage for a more appropriate time. With a simple gesture, Hiei appeared in a puff of smoke, warily staring at both Clint and Xelloss. "Now, where were we going today?"

"What's the meaning of this?" Hiei demanded of Clint.

"Just a sort of… road trip," Clint said. "To see a woman." He smirked at the light of realization that dawned in Hiei's eyes. Everything was starting to come together nicely.

* * *

Room service was delivered in about fifteen minutes, and Bethany polished off her food in about ten seconds flat; she hadn't eaten because of her headache yesterday and she'd been feeling the effects of it. Idly, she glanced over at Sephiroth's plate. "Are you gonna eat that?" she asked, pointing with her fork.

"Yes," Sephiroth said succinctly as he took another bite.

Bethany then glanced at Reno's plate, and he saw where her eyes were going. "Don't even," he said mock-sternly, pulling his plate out of reach.

"Fine, be that way," she grumped, and then her eyes wandered to Id's plate, sitting on the cart and still covered, and after a moment she got up and headed over to the cart. Before she could reach for the lid, however, Id intercepted her hand and casually brought it to his lips, and she made an exasperated noise in her throat before heading back to the bed and flopping down to stare out the window. Then something caught her eye and she grinned maniacally, one hand stealing down the bed towards her belt. Without taking her eyes off the window, she hastily buckled her belt on, jammed her feet into her sneakers, and then finally headed for the door. "I'll be right back," she said gleefully. "There's a Bishoujo out there I wanna catch."

"Are you going to need any help?" Reno asked warily.

"Not with this one," Bethany said with a faintly disturbing giggle before she slipped out the door.

Her Bishounen all exchanged glances. "You know what, I don't want to know," Reno muttered.

"The feeling is mutual," Sephiroth said dryly as he got up and went into the bathroom.

"I didn't know she was into that sort of thing," Id mused to himself.

About ten minutes later, Bethany returned, and Id and Reno looked up to see her holding the hand of a girl in a fluffy white dress. The girl looked like she was a tad bit lost, but she didn't seem to mind being led around by Bethany. "This is Pearl," Bethany said to them. "Be nice to her." She let go of Pearl's hand. "Now who's in my shower? Waitaminute, never mind." She flopped down on the bed and sighed heavily.

Pearl clasped her hands together and blushed. "It's nice to meet you," she said shyly to Id and Reno before taking a seat in a nearby chair and staring in fascination at the table lamp beside her. Id and Reno exchanged a glance, neither needing to say anything.

* * *

Stupid freaking hurricanes. Four in two months! P

Bishie Spotlight! D

Pearl is from Legend of Mana, and she's one of the Jumi, a mysterious race who have magical 'jewel cores' in their chests. If the core is taken, the Jumi will die, and someone or something is hunting the last few remaining Jumi. Pearl is quite the scatterbrain and has a disturbing tendency to wander off if she's not watched. proud first owner of Pearl – check the site if you don't believe me!

Q&A&Comments!

Vamp Gurl: Thanks again! )

Songwind: Now, don't smack him TOO hard! I need him in one piece! And don't worry too badly about Sephiroth; he's just getting used to the situation. After all, when was the last time you had a fangirl fall out of a tree on top of you? D


	5. Whack! Beware!

The Bishi Files

About an hour or so later, once everyone was dressed and Pearl had been fed, the quintet went to explore the city. Bethany, in front, held Pearl's hand to keep her from wandering off, and if Pearl minded, she certainly didn't say anything about it. Sephiroth quietly shadowed them, while Reno and Id brought up the rear and talked quietly between themselves, during which Reno would discreetly take a swig of something alcoholic enough to remove rust from iron now and then. "So where are we going again?" he asked in between swigs.

"I need to find some hair dye," Bethany said dryly, lifting her bangs up for emphasis. "My roots are showing again." And then she arched an eyebrow. "And if you're going to drink that, you can either crack out some for the rest of us or put it away until later, lush."

Reno choked on his liquor at that, and Id thumped him on the back as he coughed. Sephiroth sighed quietly and slid his hands into his pockets. _What did I do to deserve this?_ _Well,_ he amended after a moment, _it could have been worse. I seem to have been caught by a reasonable fangirl instead of a giddy squealer._ He recalled bits of the stories that he'd heard and decided that he had indeed been lucky, if you could call it luck. It took him a moment to realize that Bethany had stopped and was staring at him. "Yes?" he asked cautiously.

"I asked you if there was any place you wanted to go," she repeated, one eyebrow arching again. "Pearl and I are going to explore the city a bit, but we won't make you come with us if you don't want to. Reno's decided he wants to go fuel his alcohol system, and I'm really not sure I want to ask what Id's up to."

Sephiroth thought for a moment, and recalled taking note of a weapon shop a few blocks back. "The weapon shop," he said after a moment, recalling that he would probably need a new grip for Masamune soon.

"No surprise there," Bethany said dryly, casually folding some money into his hands. "We're meeting in front of that clock tower over there at five or thereabouts." She and Pearl then wandered towards a fountain in the middle of the square, leaving Sephiroth there. He shook his head and sighed quietly as he turned and headed towards the weapons shop.

Bethany spotted a beauty shop just across the square and headed over, with Pearl's hand firmly in her grasp. The young woman behind the counter greeted them amiably. "Welcome! Is there anything in particular you're looking for?"

"Yeah," Bethany said. "Your brightest red hair dye. I'm in dire need of a touch up." She gestured at her bangs, which were marked by a distinct length of brown at the base. "I don't particularly care for the 'can't afford a bottle of dye' look."

The young woman nodded understandingly. "Right this way, then…"

About ten minutes later, Bethany and Pearl left the shop with a small bag containing the hair dye and a few extra cheap towels, to avoid making a mess of the ones at the hotel later. A blue-haired girl on the opposite corner of the square was currently drawing much of the attention by the way she was latched onto a Valgaav and squealing "Vallie-poo!" at the top of her lungs, and Bethany winced in sympathy for the poor Valgaav, who had a pissy and yet resigned expression on his face.

Her attention quickly shifted to another trainer, who stood squarely in her path, an arrogant smirk tracing his face. "Newbie, I see," he said, grandly gesturing to her belt and setting her on her guard. "Bet you haven't even been in a battle before, have you?"

"Your point?" Bethany drawled blandly, not willing to give him any satisfaction out of that. Pearl's hand tightened about hers as she edged slightly behind Bethany. "If you don't mind, I've got things to be doing – like dying my hair, for example. How about we continue this later?"

"Don't think so," the other trainer said, reaching for a Bishi-ball at his side. "I'm challenging you, newbie! Or are you too scared?" He tossed the Bishi-ball and a flash of light heralded the appearance of an Elena, who wore a similar cocky smirk. "Well?"

They'd drawn quite a crowd by this time, and even the blue-haired girl hanging off of Valgaav had come over to see what was going on. Bethany glanced at Pearl, and blinked as something flashed in her eyes, which briefly changed from their usual bright green to a light brown. "Let me fight them," Pearl said softly, in a commanding tone unlike her usual shy voice, as one hand came up to rest on her white core. "I can handle it."

Bethany blinked. "You sure?"

Pearl nodded as her eyes flashed brown again, and a dark spot began to form in the very center of her core. "I'll be fine."

"All right." Bethany let go of Pearl's hand, and she stepped in front of her trainer, her hand still resting on her core. "I give full consent to fight on behalf of my trainer," she said firmly, drawing surprised blinks from much of the audience. "I assume the usual stakes still apply in this farce?"

The arrogant trainer sneered. "Fine, usual stakes apply, if you manage to win, of course. Elena!"

Elena moved between her trainer and Pearl. "I give consent to fight for my trainer," she said rather snottily.

A faint smirk crossed Pearl's face. "Good." And her core chimed as it erupted with a deep purple, almost black light, and she began to glow brightly as magically generated, illusionary orchids danced about her for a moment. The light died down, revealing a radically different Pearl, in a high-cut dress and wielding a massive coral-like hammer in one hand. Her core was now a solid black, and it gleamed dully in the light from the sun. Bethany had to stifle a giggle with her hands at the arrogant trainer's shock and the awe of the crowd.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded the arrogant trainer, his composure momentarily rattled.

"You may call me Lady Blackpearl," Blackpearl said, and several Dexes were heard to snap open all at once. "Not that it will serve your purposes. Now, are we to fight or are you going to take the coward's way out?"

The arrogant trainer's eyes narrowed. "Never! Elena, take her out!"

Elena nodded and rushed Blackpearl, who brought her hammer around swiftly to block, and shoved Elena backwards. Elena landed in a crouch and sprang up again, rushing Blackpearl and landing a punch to her face. Blackpearl dropped to one knee, and brought her hammer around in a tight arc, knocking Elena's feet out from under her, and Bethany hastily darted to one side to avoid being landed on as Elena took a tumble. "Get her, Blackpearl!" she bellowed, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Blackpearl nodded, darting to her feet and bringing her hammer forward. Elena did a flip and got to her feet, before pulling a grenade out of her pocket and throwing it at Blackpearl. Blackpearl's eyes widened and she took a flying leap to the side and out of the way from the exploding grenade, and then leapt forward, bringing her hammer up and into Elena's gut, sending her flying again. The arrogant trainer's lips curled in a snarl. "I know you're better than that, Elena!" he yelled. "Get in there and teach them some respect!"

Elena panted heavily as she got to her feet, assuming a loose fighting stance, but Blackpearl leapt back, brought her hammer up, and swung again, deliberately aiming for the ground at Elena's feet. With a sound crack, the earth at Elena's feet rippled and shattered, throwing her to the ground, and this time she didn't get up. The arrogant trainer snarled something foul under his breath. "Fine, you win," he snapped, throwing a handful of money at Bethany's feet, before turning to help Elena up to her feet.

Bethany arched an eyebrow and casually pocketed it, before glancing at the time on the face of her Dex. "Come on, Blackpearl, we've still got some time to kill," she said. "I don't think we really should be leaving Id unattended for too long, the lecher…" Blackpearl fell into step beside her as they left the rapidly thinning crowd and the arrogant trainer behind. "He'll probably wind up getting slapped soon, and not necessarily by me."

* * *

He watched the whole of the short fight, and then nodded once in satisfaction. "She reminds me of Mother," he mused quietly. "I like her. I think she'd be the perfect start for my harem." And then he chuckled softly. "After all, Father said it was best to start young…" And with that, he quietly vanished into the brush behind him, and began to tail them.

* * *

They found Id in the weapons shop with Sephiroth, arguing with the clerk over something or another. "Do I even want to know?" Bethany asked dryly as she and Lady Blackpearl entered.

"Gear parts," Id said succinctly, before turning back to the one clerk, and Bethany leant around Sephiroth to see what he was doing, as he finished up the last part of his purchase.

"We'll have Masamune fitted and ready for you in an hour," the clerk said warmly to Sephiroth, who nodded.

Id rolled his eyes. "I know for a fact my sword is FAR bigger," he said just loud enough so that Bethany could hear him. She didn't even blink as she felt the heavy handle of the hammer in her hand and flexed her wrist, bringing it neatly down on Id's head, with just enough force to serve as a warning. He blinked and gave her an injured look as one hand rested atop the sore spot. "And what brought that on, trainer mine?" he asked.

"Stop being a lech," Bethany said blandly to him before returning the hammer to Blackpearl's hand. "Thank you, Blackpearl."

Blackpearl nodded and made her way over to inspect a display of knives on the wall. Id blinked, and both he and Sephiroth turned around to look at her. "Who?" Sephiroth asked quietly.

Bethany giggled mischievously. "Pearl has an alternate persona, the original, you might say. Her name is Lady Blackpearl and she's the greatest of the Jumi Knights. That was proven earlier." And she jangled the money in her pocket to emphasize her point. "So don't piss her off." And then she arched an eyebrow at Id. "Where in Hell do you store the Weltall, anyway?"

Id's lips curved in a faint smirk. "Magic."

Bethany sighed heavily. "Never mind, I don't want to know."

* * *

Wufei stared in shock at the papers he held in his hand, the ones that had been delivered about an hour earlier. "He wants us to guard the subjects," he said to the other boy in outright disbelief. "He also wants us to escort them to his lab and back, and to restrain them if they get any funny ideas. We are to use lethal force if necessary, as… subjects are expendable… and he's talking about humans! Trainers! Didn't he learn from the example they made of the last fool who decided to kidnap trainers and play God with them?"

"That's because evil is stupid, Wufei," the other Bishounen drawled blandly, to cover up the fear he felt. "But we don't have a choice in the matter, ya know? We have to do as he says or he'll send us out to some remote polar shelf to go mad and die-" And he was cut short as they both staggered from a powerful shock that told them both that their trainer was in fact no longer within the three-mile range, causing him to fall out of his chair and limply to the floor.

"Duo!" Wufei fought back the madness as best as he could to rush to the other boy's side and pull him into his arms. "Try to stay still," he rasped heavily even as his mind fogged over. Neither Bishounen was aware of the gas that seeped into the room, permeating the air about them, and forcing them both into unconsciousness.

* * *

Can you say 'cameo time?' XD

Oh, if you want to be in the story, I think I can arrange for that. Leave me a comment with your name, a short description, and your bishies. No more than six bishies, please, and make sure you tell me the series so I can look them up if it's one I'm not familiar with.

Bishie Spotlight!

Lady Blackpearl is Pearl's real form. She's a powerful Jumi Knight, and her core is said to absorb any light that hits it. She wields a mean hammer taller than she is, and is possibly the most powerful of the Jumi race. As an aside, Pearl/Blackpearl is from the Playstation version of Legend of Mana. If you can get your hand on a copy, I recommend you make sure you play through the Jumi quests! They're just THAT good. And did I mention I got a first catch on Blackpearl too? : D

Elena is from Final Fantasy 7, and she's a novice Turk with quite a thing for Tseng going on. She doesn't get together with him, though. Kind of sad.

Q&A&Comments!

Songwind: Aw, come on, I need them in one piece! Can't you go smack Sanosuke around or something? XD


	6. There is a CHIBI in my BED!

The Bishi Files

Five 'clock came soon enough, and once Masamune and the Weltall parts had been paid for, they headed to the clock tower to gather Reno up. Blackpearl hadn't bothered to change forms, and Bethany had elected not to ask her why, at least for the moment. The square was largely empty except for a few people who still lingered in last-minute purchases, and Reno over by the clock tower with one bottle in his hand and several more in a brown paper bag at his feet. Bethany wrinkled her nose at the alcohol stink that hung about him as they approached. "Either share it or put it away, lush."

Reno rolled his eyes. "I resemble that," he snorted.

Bethany's eyes flashed and she snatched the bottle out of his hand, raised it to her lips and chugged down the remaining contents. "Blech!" she gasped out. "Your taste in liquor sucks, you know…"

"You're not supposed to drink it THAT fast," Reno retorted as he took the empty bottle and tossed it neatly into a nearby trash can. "I'm done, if you must know."

"Took you long enough," Bethany muttered under her breath. "We've got an hour to kill until Masamune's gonna be ready. I don't know about y'all, but I saw an Internet café over thataway, and I'd like to see if I can set up some kind of an account before I start getting the shakes from withdrawal…"

"You make it sound like we've got a choice in the matter," Reno muttered as he bent down and scoped his bottles up.

"Technically, you don't," Bethany snorted. "I'm not going to make you sit by me if you don't want to but I do expect you to behave. That means no alcohol, no porn, and no hitting on the staff." And without further ado, she turned and headed towards a small neon-lit building about five hundred feet away.

A soft push opened the door, and she held it open to let her Bishies in behind her. The room was filled with futuristic cozy-looking chairs set at scattered tables, all with high-powered computers, and the lighting consisted mainly of blue and green neon tubes thrown around like an energetic child's toys. A young woman from behind a nearby counter looked up and then headed over. "Hi there," she said, beaming at them. "Welcome to the Bits and Bytes Café. Are you new?"

"Something like that," Bethany said, idly glancing about the sparsely populated room. "Third day, precisely…"

"All right, then, come over here and I'll help you get an account set up," the young woman said, leading them to her terminal. "Now, if I can get you to bring your Dex over here, we can start the... registration… Is that one of the new Dexes?" she asked suddenly

Bethany blinked. "Um, yeah, I was the first one in Noita to get one…"

"That's so COOL!" the young woman squealed as she grabbed Bethany's hand and yanked it over so that she could see the Dex more clearly. "Oh, man, I WANT one! Hey, guys, come over here! This is the new Dex they were showing on the TV!"

A small crowd promptly formed around the counter. "Oh, wow, it's so small!"

"It sure beats carrying the old one around!"

"Lucky!"

"No way, how come all the newbies get the good stuff first?"

Bethany acidly cleared her throat. "Can I have my arm back now?" she asked with a bit of an edge in her voice.

"Ooh, sorry…" The young woman let go and the rest of the staff promptly backed off a bit. "Well, anyway, if you'll bring your Dex down here to the infrared transmitter, I'll tell the computer to set up your account details. Everything will be programmed into your Dex so that nobody can use your Internet time without your permission or knowledge." And she turned to her terminal and began typing rapidly as Bethany laid her arm on the table and situated it so that the two infrared ports were lined up. "When the display comes up, enter the names of the email and instant message accounts you had on the Other World and their passwords, and then you will be required to choose a main username and password to use for accessing the computer and its services. All new registrants get fifty hours for free, but then you must pay for each hour after that…"

"Wait, you mean we can access our accounts from there over here?" Bethany asked.

"Yep, although don't ask me how that works. It's a recent addition, so it may be a bit spotty though…"

The holographic display popped up from the 'face' of the Dex, and blue text appeared, asking for email addresses and instant message names. Bethany took a moment to type in her three email addresses and five messenger programs' names, and then pressed enter. The screen then displayed more text. 'Please enter username and password on approved grounded terminal, for the safety of your account information.'

"Use this for the username and password," the young woman said, handing Bethany a small hand-held terminal. Bethany thought for a moment before typing in the name of one of her role-playing characters, and then the password she wanted. The terminal display flashed twice as she handed it back, and then the infrared ports on the Dex and the main terminal lit up as they exchanged data. About a minute later, the Dex's holographic screen flashed once and then displayed more text, indicating a successful activation. "There you go," the young woman chirped. "You're all set. Just pick a computer and make sure to wave your Dex before the infrared port to activate the Internet services. Enjoy!"

"I plan to," Bethany said dryly as she made her way to the back of the room, trailed by her Bishies, and very fully aware of the stares as people saw her Dex. She took a seat in a darker corner and casually held her left wrist out. The two infrared ports 'talked' for a moment, and then the computer screen automatically turned on, and began to display a list of services. Bethany selected 'Internet' and idly sat back to let the home page load. From out of the corner of her eye she could see Reno leaning over the shoulder of another trainer and his Lucca, asking them a question about something or another, Blackpearl reading a poster on the wall, Id at the front counter hitting on a clerk, and Sephiroth beside him giving him 'you know better' looks.

The email client popped up and Bethany skimmed through the lone email, a generic welcoming message, before turning her attention to the Internet browser and idly typing in 'free webpage hosts' just to see what she'd get as results. She browsed the results with a critical eye, as she had no plans on settling for less than the best, and she was just about to sign up with one when a pair of hands landed on her shoulders. "Well, hello there," purred a sultry male voice. "What are you doing in this corner all by yourself?"

_Great,_ she thought. _Someone else's pervert Bishounen came over to hassle me. I smell a fight._ "Who says I'm alone?" she asked, even as she noted Id abruptly breaking off his attempts to flirt and heading over. "And for that matter, who the hell do you think you are?"

"Nobody of dire importance," the stray Bishounen purred again. Bethany's eyes flickered to the monitor screen, and her eyebrows shot up as she noticed not only gold eyes, but also fox ears as well in the dim reflection of his features on the screen.

Id cleared his throat as he came to a halt at Bethany's side. "While I appreciate that you find her just as enchanting as I do, I laid claim to her first, and I would appreciate you removing yourself from her person," he said lightly, although with a subtle undercurrent of malice.

"You did what?" Bethany snorted. "So tell me again; what color is the sky in your world? You sure ain't living in this one."

"I'm not sure she wants me to leave," the other Bishounen said with a hint of amusement in his voice, even as his hands lightly tightened on Bethany's shoulders.

"I'm sure I want you to," Id replied, the malice and venom in his tone subtly increasing.

"If you're gonna fight, take it outside," Bethany sighed, her face buried in her hands. "I can't afford to pay for anything you'd break in here."

"Youko Kurama, you stop that AT ONCE!" A rather irritated-looking trainer trailed by a Duo stomped across the room and literally yanked him off Bethany. "How many times have I told you not to go harassing other trainers? Especially when their Bishies are capable of turning you into a grease spot on the pavement like he is?" And then she turned to Bethany. "I'm soooo sorry about that. He's a bit of a pervert…"

"I gathered," Bethany said dryly. "I seem to be quite the pervert magnet lately. Can't imagine why," she added with a sideways glance at Id, who merely folded his hands behind his back. "Anyway… you are?"

"Oh, I'm Erica," the other trainer said. "I'm sure you already know Youko Kurama, and this is Duo over here."

"Nice to meet you," Duo said with a wink. "And rest assured that I won't be attempting to get into your pants anytime soon."

"You'll live longer that way," Bethany said dryly. "I'm Bethany, in case you were wondering. That there is Id, and somewhere around here are Reno, Sephiroth, and Lady Blackpearl." She glanced at the time on her Dex and made a face. "And WE need to go retrieve Masamune before the weapons shop closes. Wanna come with us?"

"Sure, why not?" Erica and her bishies fell neatly into line behind Bethany and hers, although her mood seemed to fall a bit as they left the café. Id kept a wary eye on Youko Kurama as they walked over to the weapons shop.

While Sephiroth talked to the clerk, Bethany leaned over to Erica. "You all right?"

"Oh, I'm fine… I just don't like being away from the Internet…" Erica replied.

"I know THAT feeling," Bethany said quietly. "Are you staying in the hotel like I am?"

"Um… actually, we're broke," Erica said with a hint of embarrassment. "Y'see, I keep two tennis rackets on hand… for disciplinary purposes, you might say," she added, glancing at Youko for emphasis. "But between Youko, Duo, and sometimes Jing, I keep having to replace them, and that takes money. I've got plenty of food and things, so I figured we'd just go camp out in the woods."

"That's gotta suck," Bethany said, making a face. "Why don't you stay with us tonight? Granted, you'll have to sleep on the floor, but it's got to be a lot better than on trees and things. But HE may sleep in the bathtub," she added with a jerk of her thumb at Youko.

"Really?" Erica blinked. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Positive. Besides, I need someone to talk to who isn't a psychopathic pretty boy now and then. Don't get me wrong, I love my boys, but they are handfuls." Bethany looked up as Sephiroth finished sheathing Masamune and came back to her side. "Guess what? We're having guests."

"So I heard," Sephiroth said dryly. "Does this mean Id will be sleeping beside you in the morning?"

"Like even. Blackpearl has a better chance of getting into my bed," Bethany snorted, pretending not to notice the funny looks on everyone's faces. "I don't know about you, but I woke up entirely too early this morning and I want some sleep. Come on, we can figure out who gets what patch of floor along the way."

* * *

He watched them as they came from the weapons shop and went back to the hotel. "Where did that other trainer come from?" he wondered aloud, his small green eyes narrowing slightly. "Ah, well. They can't be too hard to get by. Now I just have to wait a little while." He sat back down and idly brushed his small ponytail back over one shoulder. "One more hour."

* * *

Bethany emerged from the bathroom, neatly stepped over Reno in his sleeping bag, carefully wound her way around Id and Blackpearl, who were both apparently intent on guarding her bed tonight, and casually climbed into the bed. Erica had made Youko sleep by the door and set Jing to make sure he did, so both girls felt sure that they'd be able to sleep relatively unmolested tonight. A quick tug on the lamp cord put the lights out and Bethany slipped in her headphones before dialing up the radio, and shortly thereafter fell asleep to the quiet hum of 80's pop in her ears. 

Some time later, a small shadow fell over the window and began to tug it upwards as silently as possible. Once there was about a foot of clearance, the small shadow slipped inside and carefully closed the window again, and then carefully stepped onto the bed. When nobody even twitched, the shadow then burrowed under the blankets and latched onto Bethany's back, and a faint smile crossed its face for just a moment.

The sensation of being poked gradually brought Bethany back into the waking world and she blinked blearily at a furiously blushing Pearl. "What?" she whispered.

"There's… something latched onto you," Pearl whispered back, eyes wide. "Turn around and you'll see."

Bethany muttered under her breath as she groggily rolled over, and then her eyes nearly tripled in diameter as she saw jut what Pearl was referring to. "AAAACK!" she squealed and bolted out of the bed, hastily scrabbling for the light.

Several once-sleeping bishies all sat up sharply. "What the hell's going on?" Reno demanded from somewhere across the room.

Bethany clicked the light on and pointed. "THAT!" she hissed. "There's a Chibi in my bed! An Akio Chibi, at that!"

Several sets of eyes widened dangerously. "How the hell did a Chibi get in here?" Duo asked incredulously.

"I don't know!" Bethany said, still somewhat rattled. "But he's here now!"

Akio shifted slightly and opened his wide green eyes. "It's simple," he said in a terribly cute little voice. "I caught you, so that makes you my trainer." He couldn't help but smile a little as several sets of jaws sagged.

* * *

Bishie Spotlight! 

Akio is from Shoujo Kakumei Utena; he's the decidedly charismatic and handsome Headmaster of Ohtori Academy, and at one time on the old Bishounen site was rather reviled by the trainers there, mostly because of certain events in the series. That's kind of carried over into the Bishie World, although most of the Akio don't seem to mind their name being dragged through the mud…

Q&A&Comments!

Giraffegirl: You should make it in by the next chapter.

ArikaMorance: I plan to, believe me! Sorry about the wait!

Yamashira de'Ryu: Yes, I do read Shonen Jump, when I can get to the mall to buy it. P You should be appearing shortly.

Spatial Monkey: Sure, you can be permanent! Hope your first appearance is to your liking! XD


	7. The Plot Thickens

The Bishi Files

"I need a drink," Reno muttered quietly.

"Not unless you're gonna share, lush," Bethany replied absently. "Okay, kiddoes: now what do we do?"

"I hear Akio is the worst of all Bishies," Erica piped up, eyes wide. "He's a schemer and manipulator and practically nobody has one except for the really scary fangirls."

"That little thing?" Id snorted quietly from his place at the foot of the bed. "This is a joke, right?"

"Just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm any less dangerous," Akio replied, giving Id a speculative glance. "Father always said it's best to start early."

"Do your parents even know where you're at?" Bethany asked, her eyes widening. "I'm not sure I want a full-grown Akio coming after me because he thinks I kidnapped his kid or something. I don't fancy several hundred Swords of Hate running through my chest."

"Father wouldn't try to poke you with those swords," chibi-Akio said promptly. "He's got one he prefers to use for …special occasions."

Both girls twitched, and all their Bishies stared at Akio as if he'd grown a third arm. "My virgin ears…" Erica wailed

"That can be fixed easily," Youko murmured under his breath, and then a tennis racket clocked him in the face from nowhere. Erica muttered something under her breath about perverted bishounen as she put the racket back under her pillow, and Bethany's eyebrows arched as she realized just why Erica went through all those tennis rackets.

"Might I suggest that we deal with him in the morning?" Sephiroth interjected from one corner of the room. "It's going to be hard enough to wake up at a proper hour without standing around and discussing such a …small matter for another hour."

"Fine. You can baby-sit him until the morning, then," Bethany muttered under her breath as she went to the bed and scooped up chibi-Akio, and then headed over to Sephiroth and plopped Akio into his lap. "Keep an eye on him, and if he gives you trouble, don't hesitate to wake me." With that she climbed into the bed again. "I'm going to sleep, otherwise I won't be pleasant to live with tomorrow morning." She reached over and turned off the lights.

"Like that's new," Reno snorted before ducking the pillow that came flying in his direction.

* * *

The jail block was quiet at this hour, save for the mutterings coming from the one specially-equipped cell in the corner, the one with its inhabitant clad in a one-piece paper prison jumpsuit specially designed for the inhabitants of the suicide block. About five hundred feet away, a flash of subdued light heralded an unexpected intrusion. "Xelloss, secure the area," said a quiet male voice and the inhabitant of the cell perked up immediately. Her curiosity rose to a dangerously high level when a young boy with tan hair and dark eyes strode to her cell door. "Trainer Kara," he said quietly to her. 

Kara arched an eyebrow. "Yes?" she asked warily, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Who are you?"

"Nobody of dire importance," the young boy said dryly. "However, I do have someone here that you may recognize…" He gestured to someone out of Kara's field of vision, and a moment later footsteps sounded through the area.

Kara's jaw fell open as she recognized the newcomer, and she darted to the door of the cell. "Hiei?" she whispered, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the bars tightly. "Is that really you?"

"Who else would it be?" Hiei said, a faint mirror of his usual cocky smirk appearing on his face as he came to the cell door. "How have they been treating you?" he inquired almost casually.

"Awful," Kara hissed under her breath, a spark of rage igniting within her. "They come in every five minutes to make sure I'm still breathing, they ask me all sorts of stupid personal questions, and they won't let me even wear proper clothes – just this recycled paper garbage!" she spat, gesturing to the jumpsuit she wore. "They say I'm crazy, that I might kill myself. I wouldn't do that!"

"Kara," the tan-haired young boy interrupted. "How would you like to be able to return to the Bishie World?"

Kara's eyes widened. "But how? Those two, they gave me some kind of shot that will kill me if I set foot in there again!"

"Yes, that's true," the young boy said demurely. "However, it only works on normal humans. I've checked." A strange glint lit his eyes up. "Let me explain…" And he began detailing the results of his research, and Kara's eyes grew progressively wider as she listened to him. "…and that's essentially it," he finished some time later. "I merely have to test these formulas, but once I find one that works, I'll bring it back here – that is, if you want it," he said. "Think about it – you can take your just revenge on those who wronged you – Tokio, LSS, and that trainer who ratted you out… what was her name again?"

"Anya," Kara snarled under her breath as she clutched the bars tightly. "I'll never forgive her! If it weren't for her none of this would have happened! Her and Bryanna and Logan! All of them betrayed me, and all I wanted to do was find a way to deal with those accursed half-Bishies!"

"You can take revenge," the young boy said clearly. "Destroy their lives like they destroyed yours. It's your right, you know. Will you accept my offer?"

"Yes," she breathed, hope welling up in her. "Yes, I will. Hiei, will you aid me like you did before?"

"Of course, trainer mine," Hiei said, a light appearing in his eyes. "I still have a score to settle with that Kenshin, you know…"

"Good," the young boy said, leaning forward. "I'll send Xelloss to get you once the formula's finished and tested. In the meantime, do NOT do anything suspicious. Act normal and be patient. We can't have the game given away now."

Kara's eyes fixed on him. "And why are you helping me?"

"You might say I'm an admirer or yours," he said softly. "A fellow scientist dedicated to righting the wrongs that others have perpetuated. I don't think that Tokio and LSS should be allowed to go on with their narrow-minded administration of the Bishie World…"

Kara nodded. "I see… All right, I'll be good… just tell me, who are you?"

"I'm Clint," he told her, extending his hand to her, and she stuck her hand through the bars to shake it. "It's going to be a pleasure working with you, Miss Kara. We'll be back as soon as I'm done." And then he turned. "Xelloss! We're leaving!"

"Certainly!" Xelloss chirped in a decidedly unusually upbeat tone, even for him, and a moment later another burst of light took the three interlopers away. Kara began to chuckle softly as she backed away from the door, and then broke into full-scale maniacal laughter, which continued for quite some time into the night…

* * *

Bethany sleepily blinked the sun out of her eyes the next morning, and then looked down, not really surprised to see Akio snuggled up against her again. With a heavy sigh and a grunt, she edged out of the bed and headed into the bathroom, and then staggered out a few minutes later to take stock of the bedroom. A faint smirk crossed her face at the sight of a broken tennis racket by Erica and a couple of net lines that clearly stood out on Youko Kurama's face, while Jing snored quietly in a corner. Reno's hands were curled around another bottle as he dozed on the floor, Pearl had somehow managed to edge into the bed between Bethany's former position and the window, and Id was languidly leaning against the wall and running his fingers through his hair,. Bethany frowned as she noticed that Sephiroth had vanished, and looked around with a puzzled expression. 

"He said he was going to the downstairs gym," Id said quietly as his gold eyes focused on her. "Something about making sure that Masamune was properly fixed the first time."

"I told him to wake me if he needed to," Bethany muttered under her breath as she grabbed Reno's jacket from a nearby chair and began to stick her feet into a pair of sandals. "Fine, I'm going to go check on him. Keep an eye on things until I get back – and make sure he doesn't get out," she added, pointing at the sleepy chibi-Akio. "I don't want to be lynched just because someone happened to see him with me."

"I shall try," Id promised as he went back to working the tangles out of his hair with his fingers.

Bethany quietly slipped out the door and headed to the elevator and the directory posted beside it. After a moment, she determined where the gym was located and quietly stepped into the elevator. It stopped on the second floor and she headed towards the gym, quietly pushing aside one of the glass doors and heading over to where Sephiroth was practicing various stances and positions both with and without Masamune. "You could have woken me up and told me where you were going, you know," she said once she'd gotten close to him.

"You looked like you quite comfortable as you were," Sephiroth replied after a moment as he laid Masamune down and picked up a nearby towel to wipe off some of his sweat. "I don't suppose you know what you're going to do about the little one yet?"

"I'm going to take him home," Bethany said promptly. "I don't want his parents – any of them – coming after me. Now, if they don't have a problem with him staying with me, I might actually bring him along. I don't know yet, however. Why?"

"Merely enquiring," Sephiroth replied as he raised Masamune again, this time engaging in a complex display of slashes, parries, and thrusts against an imaginary opponent for a few minutes before lowering the lengthy blade again.

"Now why don't I believe you?" Bethany asked as she padded over to him, folding her hands behind his back and staring him down. "What's really bothering you? There's more to it than that, I can tell."

Sephiroth arched one eyebrow. "…I don't like the fact that he was able to slip in without anyone noticing," he said after a moment. "Even if I hadn't noticed, I would think that either Id or perhaps that kitsune would have seen or heard him come in…"

"You've gotta figure, though, he was once a prince with quite a bit of power, at least in the original mythos," Bethany said. "And I don't see any reason why that wouldn't have carried over into his darker incarnation. That and Akio is quite good at manipulating and scheming." And then she cocked her head. "Is that really all that's bothering you?" she asked. "Well, if you want to talk, it's not like you can't find me…" And with that she turned and padded towards the door, pausing just long enough to let a brunette trailed by six bishies of her own enter, including a Yohji and an Omi.

Bethany was nearly out the door when the trainer called to her. "Hey, do you battle by any chance?" she asked. "See, some of my Bishies need to burn off some extra energy, but I can't find anyone to battle against around here…"

"Kind of," Bethany said. "But most of mine are sleeping at the moment, so now probably isn't a good time…"

"Hey, that's okay," the other trainer said. "It'll take me an hour to pry Yohji into the land of the living anyway. So, do you want to battle later? Like, say, one or so?"

"Sure," Bethany said with a nod. "What's your name?"

"You can call me Mel," she said, pushing a strand of brown hair back behind her ear. "So I'll meet you here at one, then?"

"Yeah," Bethany said with a nod. "I'm Bethany, in case you were wondering. I'll see if I can't have them all down here by then."

"Cool, thanks," Mel said before turning to her bishies. "Hey, guys, we've got a match scheduled!"

"It's too early to think about fighting," Bethany heard Yohji mutter as she closed the gym door behind her.

* * *

She paused in the small clearing in the woods. "He's been here," she mused aloud, idly glancing about with her green eyes. "But what could he possibly be after now?" And then she sighed. "Oh, well, he doesn't seem to have to gotten into any trouble yet. I hope I can find him before that changes." And then she slipped off into the bush, leaving the clearing empty once again.

* * *

Bishie Spotlight! : D 

Youko Kurama is a thief from the Demon World in Yuu Yuu Hakusho, and perhaps one of the best to ever reside in that world. He has long white hair, gold eyes, and a rather fluffy white tail. He also controls plants with a far more frightening array of powers than his 'other' body can.

Q&A&Comments:

Eternal star: Sure, you can be in the story! I'll see about working you in as soon as possible.

Lurking shadows (Erica): Glad you like it! : D

Giraffegirl: And here you are! What do you think?


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